Dominican Republic network embezzled over US$72.7M

Santo Domingo.- Far from being an example of correctness and preaching the austerity of Jesus Christ, the churches of Pastor Rossy Guzmán and Major General Adán Cáceres, moved millions defrauded from the State, as a consequence of this, yesterday they were charged with money laundering for the corrupt network dismantled in the Coral and Coral 5G operations.

The Ministry Jesus Came, Lives and Comes Back; the Shalom Tierra de Paz Temple, the Vida Eterna Baptist Church, the Fundación Campesina Madre Tierra, among other religious entities, are identified by the Public Ministry as fronts that served to capture and launder capital stolen from military bodies for the profit of members of the framework.

Over 4.0 billion (US$72.7 million) was moved by the corruption network dismantled by Operation Coral and Coral 5G, according to the Justice Ministry. It establishes that the defendants, Adán Cáceres, Colonel Rafael Núñez De Aza, the assimilated member of the National Police Rossy Guzmán (La Pastora), among other members of the network, used trusted soldiers and direct associates to deposit money in cash to the account of the Asociación Campesina Madre Tierra.

To do this, they used the tactic called “Smurfing,” which consists of depositing small sums of money in cash to avoid risk controls.